Her Twin Surprise (Forsaken Sons Book 2) Page 5

  Chapter 5

  Janus scanned the players on the field. In the back of his mind, he was aware of the roar of the crowds. But his focus was intense as he spotted the receiver. This was it. This was the pass that would win them the game.

  As he pulled his arm back, the world seemed to slow down. The receiver raced down the field. His arm moved forward, the football spinning in a perfect spiral through the air. There was an almost silent moment as the crowd waited, watching the pass. His aim was perfect. The receiver was heading right for the ball and no one from the other team was anywhere near the receiver.

  It was the perfect play. They’d practiced the pass so many times during practice this past week. Janus could see the plays as they happened, his mind sharp as he calculated the distance each player could run, knew the arm length of the players and understood their strengths and weaknesses.

  He also knew that something was wrong. Not in the play. The football was flying down the field in a perfect arc towards the wide receiver.

  And yet, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the defensive linebacker, Joe Rockwell, grab Tommy Uburcheck’s facemask. Tommy was the offensive lineman, Janus’ protection against the enormous men on the defensive line. Grabbing an opponent’s facemask was illegal because there was no defense against it and it jerked the player’s neck out of alignment.

  Janus heard the crunch as Tommy went down hard. That was the sound of broken bones, he knew. Janus looked up. Rockwell was heading right for him and he wasn’t fooling around. Death was in his eyes.

  It didn’t help that the Seattle Badgers had ruined the other team’s chances at the playoffs last year. Rockwell was out for blood.

  Janus heard the whistle blow. He heard the crowd cheer. Touchdown! Apparently, the wide receiver had crossed the line, but Janus didn’t see it. All he could see was the two hundred and fifty pound man heading straight for him.

  He ran backwards, trying to get out of the way, but the guy kept coming. More whistles. Out of the corner of his eye, Janus caught the flash of yellow that indicated that the referees had caught the foul. The referees were racing towards them. But momentum was on Rockwell’s side. Several of his teammates noticed what was happening, but they couldn’t move fast enough to help.

  Everything happened within seconds, and yet, it felt as if the world was moving in slow motion.

  Rockwell plowed into Janus, crushing him to the ground. Again, there was the sound of bones snapping and pain ripped through Janus. Normally, when he was tackled during a game, Janus knew how to twist his body to minimize body contact. In this case, the guy was out for blood! This time, Janus felt the pain slicing up his leg, the pain so deep, so intense, he couldn’t even scream. Yes, this…this tackle was different. The pain in his body was so intense, he couldn’t move.

  Something was seriously wrong.

  Suddenly, the crowd realized that two Seattle players were down. Coaches rushed onto the field, the team’s doctor right behind them. His teammates knelt as they realized how bad things were.

  Coach Dean took one look at Janus and Tommy and called for paramedics. Because there was always an ambulance stationed outside of the stadium in case of spectator issues, the paramedics were nearby. They didn’t even hesitate as the ambulance drove out onto the field.

  Gritting his teeth against the pain, Janus tried to answer his coach’s questions, but the pain was overwhelming. Finally, the paramedics put him on a board and lifted him onto the gurney, his neck in a brace and…that was all he remembered. Blacking out from the pain, Janus accepted the oblivion that his body gave him.

  “Stevie,” Janus groaned, drifting through the pain towards consciousness.

  “You’re going to be okay,” a soft voice said. But it wasn’t Stevie’s voice. This voice told him to calm down. To hold still.

  Janus didn’t want to hold still. He wanted to yell and roar with fury. That last play replayed behind his eyes. He forced his eyes open and found he was in a hospital room. There were machines beeping. White room. White walls, white ceiling, white everything. Was he in hell? Janus looked around, seeing the lights overhead and several doctors were in the corner, talking with Coach Dean.

  “What’s going on?” Janus didn’t recognize his voice. It was scratchy, as if he’d chain-smoked two packs of cigarettes for the past twenty years.

  Everyone from the corner turned to stare at him. Finally, it was Coach Dean who took the lead. Coming closer, the man’s eyes looked sad.

  “What do you remember?” Dean asked.

  Janus thought back. “I remember that ass Rockwell grabbing Tommy’s face mask. Is he okay?”

  Coach Dean shook his head. “No. Tommy has a broken shoulder and two herniated disks in his neck. He’s out for…well, we don’t know how long.”

  “What happened to Rockwell?”

  Dean’s lips pressed together. “He was ejected from the game. The NFL will determine his eligibility to play, but if it was up to me, the guy wouldn’t ever be allowed in a stadium again, even if he bought a ticket.”

  Janus nodded, relieved that he could move his neck. “What’s wrong with me?”

  Dean turned, nodding to the doctor as if giving him permission to speak. Immediately, the doctor stepped forward, pulling a chart out from under his arm. “You were very lucky,” he began. “You have a broken leg, but it was a clean break and will heal without issue. You also have three broken ribs and one side of your body is badly bruised. The ribs were a concern as one of them almost punctured your lung, but the surgery went well. We were able to reposition the bones so that they will heal correctly.” He smiled, nodding as if he’d just said something amazing. “It’s going to take a while for your body to heal, but you’ll get there.”

  Janus nodded, but he didn’t feel lucky. In fact, he was in a great deal of pain and wanted to pound Rockwell into sand.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Coach Dean said, chuckling softly. The doctor looked at the coach. “The team took care of Rockwell. He’ll be walking funny for a long time.”

  Janus tried to shift, but the pain in his ribs was too intense so he stopped. “I’m surprised that his team didn’t protect him.”

  Dean made a disgusted sound. “His teammates pretty much chucked him to the wolves. They are furious with Rockwell. From what I heard, he wasn’t even allowed on the plane back home. The head coach suggested that Rockwell find a commercial flight to get back to Miami.”

  “Good. The ass deserves it.”

  “I agree. I’m guessing he’ll be issued a massive fine by the league management. But after that, he’ll be discharged from the team. I doubt any other team will want him.” He shook his head in disgust. “That’s IF the league even allows him the option to become a free agent.”

  “So…did we win?”

  There was a stunned silence for a moment, and Coach Dean laughed. “Yeah, we won,” Dean grinned broadly. “That pass you threw was a beauty! An eighty-two yard pass right to Koontz, who waited for it on the five yard line, then he ran right into the end zone. I know that Plunket threw a ninety-nine yard pass back in eighty-three,” Coach continued with a laugh and an astounded shake of his head. “But you threw an eighty-two yard pass and it will definitely end up in the record books as one of the prettiest in NFL history.”

  Janus smiled, but he didn’t feel like celebrating. He wanted all of these people to get the hell out of here and for a certain dark haired beauty with gorgeous brown eyes to walk in and kiss him until he felt better. Where was Stevie? Surely she’d heard about the game by now. It was probably all over the news. So even if she didn’t watch the games live, she would have heard about it and that two of the Seahawk players were out for the rest of the season.

  “Is my phone around here somewhere?” he asked, scanning the room.

  Coach Dean grabbed a bag that had been set on a chair. “Your stuff from Sunday is all in here. But if there’s anything else that you need, just let me know. The team is going to assign a personal a
ssistant to help you through this time.” He pulled Janus’ phone out of a pocket, and handed it to him. “Here you go.”

  Janus flipped through the apps until he came to the phone. No calls. No text messages. Nothing. Not a word from Stevie.

  He had about five hundred texts and phone calls from others, but nothing from the one person he really wanted to talk to.

  Why hadn’t she called him? Or texted? He’d thought that Stevie was different. Had he been so wrong about her? Had he completely misinterpreted her reactions?

  Chapter 6

  “Retiring?” A stunned reporter yelped, obviously horrified at even speaking the word. “But…you’re just at the peak of your career!”

  Janus glared at the man, ignoring the pain shooting through his right leg. His ribs still ached, but he could finally move around a little. “I’ve been playing football since I was about six years old,” he said with an outward calm that he definitely didn’t feel. In reality, he was livid. That ass Rockwell had been censured and fined, kicked off of the team, and no other team would touch him. But that wasn’t what was bothering Janus. It was the lack of communication from Stevie. It had been over a week. He’d been in the hospital, flooded with visitors, not to mention doctors and nurses who just wanted to stop by and say hello, congratulate him on the victory, and wish him a fast recovery. He’d been gifted with so many flowers and gifts that he’d ordered the hospital staff to stop delivering them, asking them to deliver them to other people’s rooms instead.

  But none of those well-wishers were the person he really wanted to hear from. They weren’t a soft, dark-haired, brown eyed kindergarten teacher who lit up a room with her smile.

  Furthermore, he was disgusted with the number of women who wanted to “help his recovery” by offering their services. Women had been stopping by his room so often that he’d demanded the hospital and team put a guard up to keep them away. It was ridiculous how many women tried to sneak into his hospital room, some of them stripping naked as soon as they entered.

  “Do you think you might be hasty in your decision?” another reporter called out. “After all, the doctors say that you’ll make a full recovery in a couple of months. That’s enough time to get in shape for next season.”

  Janus fought to keep himself from rolling his eyes. “I’ve been very lucky in my career with the NFL,” he responded as diplomatically as possible. “But after last week’s tackle, I’ve reevaluated my priorities. I think it’s time for a career change.”

  “What are your plans?” another asked.

  He shrugged, smothering the wince when his ribs protested. “I have several businesses that I’ll be focusing on in the future.” He didn’t add that his ultimate goal was to still be involved in the sport, just not on the team. Even now, Roy was negotiating behind the scenes.

  After helping get his team to the Super Bowl three times over the past five years, not to mention many other lucrative years in the NFL, Janus was a very wealthy man. He hadn’t ever been the kind of guy who went out and bought ten cars and hit the strip clubs, buying attention from ladies by throwing cash around.

  Instead, he’d invested his money, bought restaurants, bars, and other businesses. Those businesses earned him more money than football ever could. What’s more, he wouldn’t be tackled to the ground by an ass with a vendetta.

  Nope, he’d done extremely well, both on and off the field. Now it was time to put the next phase of his life into play.

  “Is there any chance that you’ll change your mind and come back to the sport once you’ve had a bit of time to recover and re-evaluate?” Another reporter called out.

  Janus smiled, but it was one of cold determination. “Anything is possible,” he replied.

  There were a series of other questions called out to him and he forced himself to answer as many as he could. He didn’t want to alienate the press. Plus, he might need the publicity in the future.

  Over the years, Janus had developed a policy to never close doors. But as he hobbled away from the conference room an hour later, there was one door he was definitely slamming shut! His rage ate at him like acid as the pain burned through his body, coming from different angles depending on how he moved. Rage towards one beautiful, selfish, silent woman.

  Never again would he make himself vulnerable, he vowed. Never again.

  Chapter 7

  Four months later…

  Stevie stared at the plastic stick, her heart pounding in her chest. Positive. She was pregnant.

  She tried to think. Tried to make sense of the test that…didn’t make any sense! Even now, her heart still ached from the loss of her mother back in September. After arranging her mother’s funeral and shutting down her mother’s life, Stevie had finally looked at her phone, desperately hoping to see a text message or e-mail from Janus. But there’d been only silence.

  That had hurt more than she’d thought possible. At a time when she needed him the most, he’d gone on his merry way.

  Of course, he didn’t know that her mother had passed away. The first few days after that horrible visit to the hospital had been a blur of confusion and soul-deep grief. And fear! Lots of fear. She’d called her school principal and explained the situation. The principal had been wonderful, arranging for a substitute to take care of her class for the next two weeks. But it still had taken Stevie a while to start functioning again.

  Unfortunately, not once did Janus call and ask about her. She’d been in such a haze, barely sleeping or eating during the week following her mother’s death, that she hadn’t known what day it was, much less what was going on in the world. But when she’d finally surfaced, finally had collected herself enough to check her messages, she hadn’t found anything from Janus.

  Apparently, he’d been through with her. Sex. A convenient body. That’s all she’d been to him. Stevie had been a good roll in the hay and, after he’d gotten what he wanted, the jerk had moved on.

  Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes and tried to figure out how to get through this next painful revelation in her life. She was pregnant. Pregnant. Alone. Sad and…abandoned. Plus, it was January. This was one of the gloomiest months in Seattle. A lot of people thought of Seattle as a rainy town. And yeah, there was a lot of rain, but not as much as people assumed.

  The real issue in Seattle was the cloud cover. There were months when it seemed that they would never see the sunshine again. Never feel the warmth of the sun or have hope that the gloom would dissipate.

  Now, she was pregnant. She’d been feeling tired and out of sorts for a while now. But after the holidays had passed and she still couldn’t seem to get out of her funk, Stevie had finally gone to see a doctor.

  “You’re pregnant,” her physician had told her gently. “I know this isn’t the news you were expecting, but I hope you might be happy about it.”

  Stevie hadn’t believed her doctor, which is why she was sitting in her bathroom, staring at a plastic stick. Not that the pharmacy pregnancy test was better than the blood test she’d taken at the doctor’s office. Still, it was one of those situations that she just…well, needed more confirmation.

  Tossing the plastic stick into the trash, she walked out of the bathroom and stood in her kitchen. “I should eat something,” she said to her empty apartment. But the thought of eating just made her ill.

  “This is ridiculous!” she snapped and turned on her heel, walking out of the kitchen. It was Saturday and she needed to get away from Seattle. Away from her tiny apartment where she’d been holed up for the past four months. “Fresh air,” she whispered as she got into her car. It was cold in Seattle, but Stevie still rolled the windows down a few inches, turning on the heat.

  She wasn’t sure where she was going, but wasn’t surprised when she ended up at her mother’s house. Staring at the small, familiar cottage, Stevie’s eyes teared up. Angrily, she wiped them away, sick of crying. It was as if she’d been doing nothing but crying for the past four months. Over her mother’s death, the loss
of Janus-the-Jerk as she now referred to him, and now this. Pregnant.

  Just then, the clouds opened up and sunshine spilled over the house. It was as if God was telling her something, sending a message. It felt good! Maybe it was just the extra light, but Stevie immediately knew what she needed to do.

  Chapter 8

  “Sir, you received a call from a woman named Stevie Hunt. She said it was urgent that you return her call.”

  Janus glared at his personal assistant, ignoring the sudden surge of hope.

  But no, he couldn’t be excited about her calling now. Not four months after his accident. What the hell could she possibly want? There had been no contact for all this time and now she wanted…what? A quick roll in in the hay?

  His body reacted immediately to the possibility. And for a long moment, he considered calling Stevie back. If she wanted sex, then he could handle that. His body obviously wouldn’t object. She’d been extraordinarily beautiful. Soft and…!

  What the hell was he thinking? No way would he get back together with Stevie! When he’d needed her the most, she’d vanished. When he’d been hobbling around on crutches, his recovery slow and painful, she’d ignored him. Obviously, the woman didn’t like hanging out with a crippled man!

  But now that he was fully recovered, walking on his own legs without crutches or braces, she wanted back in his life? “Tell her to go to hell,” he growled, then stalked into his office and slammed the door.

  For several moments, he took in deep breaths, calming his fury over Stevie trying to come back into his life. She must have seen the interview yesterday, seen that he could walk again and wasn’t permanently damaged.